1

"What trickery is this?"

For the first time since entering this world, Reijy loosened his grip on his two swords.

"Hooooh?"

The voice of the fairy levitating beside him temporarily caught his attention, and he blinked as he saw her fly towards her doppelganger.

In response, the fog only grew thicker.

"Reijy," started the uniformed Akane, tears in her eyes. "I really missed you."

"W-wait a minute..." stammered Reijy, recoiling one slow step at a time. "What are two Akanes doing here?"

The fairy flew around her much larger counterpart before engulfing herself in light. With it came brightness that temporarily cleared the thick fog away before blinding Reijy.

Putting his hands down after the flash, he allowed confusion to take over, now looking at two Akanes of the same height in front of him. One was wearing the Fuyusato uniform, while the other one retaining her skimpy outfit and wings.

"We are both Akane Fujiwara."

She pointed at her half-exposed chest before making a cutting gesture on top of her abdomen, clearly ignoring the befuddled look on her partner's face.

"When the Magna Arbiter blasted, destroyed, crushed, eradicated you..." she took a breath in between her animated hand gestures, "...its energy reacted with the Render of Bounds' power in you, giving birth to a manifestation of the force that births those shadowy beings."

That overly enthusiastic way of making him remember the battle did not please him one bit, but the fairy just continued.

"To answer your question... Who is the one person you want to see the most? The one with the strongest imprint in your memory? The one who was your sole inspiration for moving forward?"

Reijy finally dropped his swords and fell to his knees. Overcame with emotion, his eyes widened and locked onto the ground he stood on.

Her gentle hand lay on top of his head, and he looked up to see the uniformed Akane's warm smile.

A warm, teary smile that he never thought he would see again.

The gentle hand that he had missed embraced his face again, and Akane gently pulled his face towards her chest.

"Is that really you, Akane?"

To which the uniformed girl smiled. Her ponytail bobbed up and down as she vigorously nodded in affirmation.

"Technically speaking..."

The fairy one strutted forward with a shrug.

"This one right here is specifically the Akane Fujiwara that resided in your memories. What you remember of the girl you always loved has been made real by the power of this place."

Fairy Akane circled him before returning to uniformed Akane's side. The fairy then put her arm over the other girl's shoulder in a show of affection.

"After all, wasn't she the one person you never managed to say goodbye to? Never managed to forgive yourself for not saving her?"

Dumfounded, Reijy nodded.

But it was not of his own doing. With his wide eyes fixed on the uniformed Akane, his head had moved on its own. He tried ordering his mouth to move, but even that was paralyzed.

"The Magna Arbiter was a thing of history," commented the fairy. She looked at the uniformed Akane while putting a hand on her chin, as if in deep thought. "It's only the last remnants of its power, consolidated into a host and given a chance to manifest thanks to your brother's machinations, that created this world. If so..."

She doubled on the uniformed Akane, this time giving her a more suspicious look this time around.

Reijy can see this phenomenon, but as soon as he turned to fairy Akane, his gaze returned to uniformed Akane.

Her body had this spell that just wrapped his body around her fingers. He cannot look anywhere else, and his heart rose with this urge to protect the uniformed Akane.

"Ah, you don't have to understand any of that!" The fairy giggled. "Someone as strong as you should only stay focused on the goal, Reijy. Remember what you're here for, and remember the feelings you had when I was taken from you the first time around."

Hearing those words made Reijy bite down on his lips.

In contrast to the engaging look that the fairy had, the uniformed Akane wore a look of sadness on her face.

"Reijy, please do not have that look on your face," she pleaded.

It was just like what she said before her untimely passing.

Instincts took over, and he threw himself into her, holding her in a grip that he won't let go.

The traces of humanity that he thought he was ready to discard took no more than a few weeks to resurface.

"I'm sorry I cannot save you, Akane. Please forgive me!" he shouted.

Nothing else mattered to him. Not his appearance nor the nervous chuckles from fairy Akane. All he wanted was to get the apology out of his chest and another chance at salvation.

"Awww, you never gave me a hug before, Reijy," playfully pouted the fairy as she was promptly ignored by the other two.

"It will be fine, Reijy. You don't have to be so hard on yourself."

Her gentle rubs brought new hope, but alas, it was not enough.

"But... But...!"

"I know you've always tried so hard. In whatever you do, you always thought about me. Granted, it's not always smooth sailing, but I know that you always have my best interests in mind, and that makes me very happy."

"But it's all over. We won't ever be able to run away, leave this town, and start anew."

"Is that what you truly believe?"

The reply with a snarky tone came not from the uniformed Akane but the fairy. She moved closer to the two who were locked together, and she wore surprisingly careful expression.

"Do not give up, Reijy. It's okay now, so please let go of your hatred and let me take care of you."

Reijy nodded repeatedly.

"Ehem. Ehem!" Fairy Akane lightly pushed her aside while clearing her throat. "Earth to Reijy!"

She waved her hands aggressively, looking more and more agitated with each passing second. Reijy paid her no heed until she reverted into her smaller form and began tugging at his parka's sleeves.

Having no success with that, she immediately pointed a finger at the uniformed Akane.

"Just what are you trying to do?!" growled her.

With a shocked shout, uniformed Akane quickly released her hold on Reijy.

"In case you didn't know, this man is hurting inside, and the only way to cure that would be to eliminate the cause of his problems. I know what's best for Reijy, and it's for him to make everyone, even fate itself, regret messing with him."

"That's..." stammered the uniformed girl.

"Yes. The world needs to know what a great and powerful person Reijy Ishida is."

"I know he is strong, and he is the person I admired as a young girl, but..."

"Hoooh? Trying to pull a fast one on us, huh? Then, what are the appendages on your back?"

Uniformed Akane screamed, surprised by the fact. She flinched back and quickly put her hands behind her back.

"T-that's..." she stammered.

"You get your hands off Reijy, now!" reprimanded the fairy with a sneer.

"Stop it!" snapped Reijy. His body moved on its own, and he forcefully swatted the fairy away.

"Oww! What's gotten into you?!" angrily replied the fairy before she gasped. "Reijy... those eyes of yours. What's with the blank eyes, the blank stare? Don't let her fool you! I-it's a trap made by the lord of this castle!"

The look of anger directed towards uniformed Akane grew even more intense, but it was of no importance to Reijy.

He locked eyes with the uniformed form of his childhood friend, and his mouth opened to give his answer. Then, the uniformed Akane's eyes twitched, something to the side having caught her attention.

Reijy Ishida never had a chance to give his answer.

"Eeek!"

With a cry, the fairy Akane was blown past him by the force, while he barely reacted before a powerful force struck him.

It all happened in a flash, and when he came to, he was lying flat on his back.

His eyes continued staring straight into a pair of teary ones. Looking at those eyes, Reijy can feel the pain, both in her and him. With her arms outstretched, she had pushed him out of harm's way.

Once again, Akane Fujiwara had saved him.

"Rei-jy..."

Teary eyes rolled back before the uniformed Akane dissipated into thin air, shattering into the black smoke from which she came from.

The culprit identified itself as spikes that had protruded her abdomen and chest.

The cruel scene had played once again. This time, it was no dream, no memory that he would love to bury in the back of his head.

"Gaaaaahhhh!"

Reijy picked himself up and roared in rage. While he felt his veins bulge out, he let out a gurgled sound. His bloodshot eyes quickly turned to the one who dared make him relive the nightmare.

How vicious could fate be? Forcing him to see his turning point once again.

As the thick fog cleared, he could clearly see the form of the one who took Akane away from him again.

Little else registered to him as he felt his hands manifest and grip the dual swords tightly.

"Just as he predicted. Amazing, Lord Izaya."

Reijy cared not in knowing this person's name. The only thing on his mind was to destroy the monster who dared separate him from Akane again.

Only this time, his swords stopped in mid-air with the sound of a clang.

Instead of cleaving through flesh like they so easily did before, the swords were caught in a deadlock with another pair of blades.

His rampaging roar was answered by a high-pitched wail, the sound of the pale woman that handily blocked his attack.

He then found himself being launched back, some spikes having pierced part of his abdomen and throwing him back-first onto the floor.

Picking himself back up, Reijy now began to look at his opponent.

The masked man brushed his tentacle arms through his spiky hair before tilting his head to the side.

"I don't give a damn about those two, but after hearing stories of your power, I just can't help it. Your strength will be mine. Ain't that right, Setsura?!"

The breathtakingly beautiful woman screeched in response to the masked man's words. She raised the two blades where her arms should have been in a menacing motion.

Neither gesture fazed Reijy. Instead, what his eyes saw was the fairy that flew beside him. Having morphed back to her original size, she clenched her fists.

"Stand back, Akane. These creeps will never lay a hands on you."

Brandishing his two swords, he pointed at the approaching enemy.

This Akane Fujiwara was different from the childhood friend of his, however. Contrary to his expectations, Reijy felt a sensual touch around his neck.

"What are you saying, you fool? After you brush me aside for her. I sensed something sinister and tried to warn you, but nooooo. I could bawl my eyes out after the pain of rejection!"

"I did?" asked Reijy. He felt that he owed an apology, given how hurt Akane genuinely seemed in spite of her intentionally overdramatic tone.

Her switch did not take too long to be flipped, and she flew beside him with a serious look on her face. Like him, she stared viciously at the masked man.

"Hehe! Doesn't matter now. You know what to do when an enemy appears before you, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I'm talking about! Let's go, Rei— Iyaaah!"

Without directly looking at the fairy, Reijy knew that moan like the back of his palm. She should also be digging her nails into her arms at this point while the spiritual link between the two of them intensified.

His vision turned bloodshot along with his roar, and they focused on only one thing: the enemy in front of him.

He had little idea who this tentacle weirdo and that creepy girl were supposed to be, but they didn't matter. All Reijy knew was that the duo were threats to Akane.

Seeing the uniformed Akane get diffused like the illusion that she was felt bad enough. However, he would never forgive himself if he would lose the fairy again.

He let out a bloodcurdling howl as fairy Akane seemed to reach her climax. Her screams of ecstasy likewise pierced the air, and Reijy pushed himself off the ground.

"More, more. Give me more, Reijy!" she howled while he began his charge.

The very next thing that Reijy saw was the opponent's tentacle hands morphing into a pike.

Then, he threw his force behind his two swords, ready to clash and eradicate this foe.

2

"Arata!"

A pair of gentle yet strong hands stopped Kazuki's fall, and he blinked repeatedly both at Amagi and the castle walls.

"What a powerful collision of forces."

Kazuki picked himself back up before understanding what had just happened. A clash of the two strong forces caused his concentration to hit a snag, violently breaking him off his trance.

He cannot pinpoint where it was exactly, as he did not have a detailed map of the castle's layout, but he was glad that the clash happened very far from where he was.

Since it was a one-on-one battle, it was likely not Uehara and Kimura. They probably didn't hate each other enough to fight inside a Fragment of all places. They had to be the pair that constantly moved together as a group, and they were likely making headway through this Fragment some distance away from them.

"Thanks, Amagi," he said while giving a swift nod of thanks right when he finally got to his feet.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Arata," said her, a worried expression on her face.

Those worries were more than justified. They had never come across a Fragment as bizarre as before. The fog, annoying as it was, waned and intensified without any discernable pattern.

In fact, the Nullities, which were mostly similar to the weak ones found in the city Fragments, were the least of their worries.

"Please don't scare me like that again."

"Yeah, I won't."

Kazuki looked at the path ahead of them, one slightly obscured by fog and what little crimson rays that seeped through the window panes.

"Promise? That's the fourth time inside this castle."

"Y-yeah. Thanks for saving me from those spikes, it must have been a lot of work. You had to pull me out of a pitfall trap, too."

"I just hope you don't give me another heart attack."

Kazuki let out a sigh of relief. After the incident at the Temple of Recollections, this place had solidified his choice for a traveling companion.

While having less agency than Uehara, Amagi's not nearly as loud as Kimura was. With that in mind, he started pitying the black-haired girl who had to put up with the idol's mouth and sass.

"I wonder how the two of them are doing now." As if she had read his mind, Amagi mindlessly asked the question.

"She'll probably be pissed or something. Kimura can get preeeety loud."

"I hope they're doing okay."

"Kimura might be driving Uehara crazy now, but I know that they're both strong. She's not just a pretty face idol, and that staff of hers packs a punch. Also, you and I both know that there's no better person to watch your back against these Nullities than Uehara."

"Yeah. I don't have any worries whatsoever. I'm more worried about how they'll get along. Anyway, how about we get going?"

Amagi readied her bow while standing in wait, seemingly getting ready to follow his lead.

"Yeah," said Kazuki with a sense of urgency. Taking quick strides, he started heading off towards the next sector of the castle.

They ran together, keeping track of Nullities that could pop out at any moment as well as the random traps that became a lot more dangerous thanks to the fog.

She may not have complained, but Kazuki knew that running from those traps (and saving him from them) had taken a lot out of his childhood friend.

Breaks in the frantic running and fighting were rare, so he had made sure to make good use of it to get a map of people who gave out readings inside the Fragment.

Luckily, it seemed that there were only mild, fluctuating readings in addition to the five stronger ones. At least that's what he got before the clash broke off his focus.

There's still time.

Stragglers could have been pulled in here and there, but as long as they got to the root cause of the Fragment, the Class B Nullity that rules over it, the situation could be defused without much casualty.

The two powerful readings were presumably in combat, while the other two had to be Uehara and Kimura. As for the last one...

He clicked his tongue as he identified the likely candidate.

Guren Izaya.

3

"As expected, Lord Izaya is never wrong."

The smiling Reiya Utara stood up from her seated position after confirming the presence of six other Awakeners.

They were spread out, but they were grouped nicely into pairs.

One pair, in particular, let out powerful signals: a sign of a violent clash.

It did not take a genius to guess that person to be Touya Satoru, her partner for the day. He was a person she did not like working with, to be honest, but Lord Izaya insisted that that guy be the one to back her up this time.

It was also his way of satiating the unstable Satoru.

Or perhaps it was just his unparalleled knowledge that Satoru would be a match to that boy, to keep him preoccupied while she worked on her real mission.

Speaking of...

Lord Izaya ought to follow us in. Wonder what's taking him so long.

He had masterfully crafted a strategy for them to corner the host of the Magna Arbiter. By having Satoru wait in a different location than she did, they would be able to cover more ground. His job was clear, and so was hers.

He was to deal with possible third parties, while she would traverse the Fragment and fight against the strong Nullity with him. His late entry would ensure the plan's success, but she neglected to ask when exactly he planned to enter.

Another set of instructions, specifically to her, were clear, however.

Do not fight Reijy Ishida.

The woman with lavender hair massaged her arms, specifically the places where the rogue boy's twin swords had sliced open. Thinking about him seemed to have cause those wounds to reopen before she shook her head clear.

She begrudgingly adjusted her trench coat before continuing the tread through the Fragment.

It was difficult to move around in this heavy attire, and with the fog weighing her down, the Fragment itself was testing her mental fortitude.

If only she could have tossed this trench coat away or let one of the spike traps rip it apart...

Corridors had led to more corridors and the occasional grand hall, while some led to the occasional stairs that led up. This floor looked to be more of the same.

Growling sounds came from the side, breaking her concentration and prompting her to draw her Armament.

With a whooshing sound, the knife flew through the air, and it pierced the head of a Nullity, dropping it in one shot. She did not even care to look back at the Nullity. She pressed on, headed towards the source of the most powerful reading of them all.

The Class B Nullity that stood in wait.

It was a boring race to the top, and each of the spawning Nullities stood little chance against her knives that danced across the air.

Destruction was left in her wake. Yet, she felt nothing as the enemies all fell like dry leaves in her path. All shriveled and shredded by her Armament.

No exhilaration. No relief.

Just pure focus on the goal ahead, and the prize at the top: being one step closer to Euphoria, or more importantly, Lord Izaya's goals.

After that, she can finally put her mistakes to rest. Say goodbye to them and face the new world.

She scoffed after nimbly dodging a set of spike traps. That was the nth one today as she had lost count.

Now, waiting in front of her were the stairs to the next level, and after she went up, more fog and monotonous halls waited for her.

She swung her arms and put on a defensive pose in response when she entered a large chamber. Her knives, burning with energy, started circling her.

The sound of those blades echoed inside the chamber, one that had suddenly gone a lot quieter... and darker.

She had no idea when the fog had grown thicker, but looking at her surroundings, she noticed that it had blotted much of her previous view of the chamber.

She failed to sense any Nullities nearby, but she continued slowly forcing her way through the fog. Her sights then caught a figure with orange hair barely peeking past the purple hue.

When the girl glanced back for a bit, Reiya Utara nearly flinched in shock.

"MEIA?"

She slowed her pace down, calming her orbiting shield of knives before approaching the form of the girl. Mostly obscured by the thick fog, the girl wandered aimlessly, pacing around the corridor.

MEIA. Real name: Mei Asami. An aspiring idol who had the rug swept under her in a tragic incident.

Utara could never forgive the executives nor the fans for what they did to her. She could never forget how much they scarred a promising star, all culminating in one of the worst ways a young girl can leave this cursed earth.

That incident was the beginning of her downward spiral, but it was also the incident that led her to meet Lord Izaya and Yui Kimura.

Utara licked her lips, but despite all her preparations, her entire body continued to tense up with each motion by MEIA.

Was this one of the Fragment's machinations? It had to have some mechanism which allowed it to access her memories, and what walked in front of her was but a ghost. It had to be, as this was a Fragment formed from the Magna Arbiter's powers.

More questions opened up for the lavender-haired woman.

Was this an illusion meant to be pursued?

Will it lead her to the host of the Magna Arbiter?

"Manager," called out MEIA with vigor.

The thick fog gathered around Utara, and when she prepared for an ambush, she heard the sound of some knives shattering into thin air. Along with the fog came a new scent.

The smell of roses. Sweet and intoxicating. So powerful that it washed away the usual sulfuric smell inside a Fragment.

She froze in place after hearing the orange-haired girl call out to her in a voice that she never thought she'd hear again. It was a songlike voice that suited the girl's whimsical and carefree outlook, one that would brighten up anyone's day.

Slowly, the remaining knives encircling Utara retreated. Their performance ended with clanging noise after clanging noise. Reiya Utara stared ahead, her footsteps blending with the sound of her knives dissipating.

With her eyes fixed on the orange-haired girl, her legs had begun moving on their own. The fog only thickened, but it did not matter. Fog or not, she can clearly sense MEIA's location, and she found herself unable to stop the slow approach.

"Have I been a good girl? Have I become the idol whom everyone admires?"

Utara's eyes blinked once. Now, the idol stood mere steps away from her. The blue dress and the top hat that she held evoked even more memories. Her belt was adorned in white and the various suits of Poker.

That was the Alice in Wonderland theme that they had decided on.

"Remember this? This is what we picked for my third anniversary show!" she said before putting on the hat.

She pranced around, seemingly oblivious to the thick fog or the fact that danger could be lurking around the corner. They were not in a random castle in the real world. They were in the world born from the curses of human emotion.

Utara wanted to warn her of the impending danger, but she found her body unable to respond. Panic slowly inched its way into her heart upon realizing that she was slowly losing agency.

Still, the carefree attitude displayed the MEIA touched a part of Utara's heart that she had kept dormant for over three years. Despite knowing that this was a mere phantom, she cannot help but be entranced by the girl.

This is no mere ghost.

Utara thought so, in awe at how "alive" this MEIA seemed. The way she moved around, her carefree look, and those bright eyes.

They were exactly the same as how she remembered.

All of a sudden, the invisible shackles that restricted her disappeared, and she charged forward, grabbing MEIA by the shoulder.

"Was this what Lord Izaya was talking about? And to think that this was an imperfect recreation at this rate. Imagine what he could do when we get to the Akashic Records."

"Huh? What is it, Manager?" curiously asked the girl, tilting her head before breaking out into a laugh. "You're being weird again."

"Pardon me," Utara answered before releasing the orange-haired girl.

"Ehh? Why don't you stop being so formal? We've been together for two years, so we should be friends!" she continued. This time, it was her turn to pull at Utara's hand.

"W-where are we going?" she asked, surprised by this sudden development.

"Ehh? To the dressing room. I want to show you something I cooked up while you're gone!"

"W-wait, do you even know where we are?"

MEIA tilted her head, and a glint appeared on her curiosity-filled eyes.

"Yes. A wonderland free from all those haters and pesky stalkers. They're not here, right? You got rid of them, didn't you?"

"Those haters and pesky stalkers..."

But I didn't.

At that realization, Utara tried to move her body.

To her horror, her hands were fully stiff, and so were her legs. The feeling expanded throughout her body, and her eyes were left staring blankly ahead: straight into the eyes of the former idol.

"What's wrong, Manager?" asked the pair of dead eyes.

A slick smile emerged on MEIA's face, and the very look of the ominous girl shook Utara to her very core. Her head ached in mental torture, and she wanted to scream, but no voice came out.

A thick purple hue began bleeding into the walls that made up MEIA's background, and a sense of dread quickly engulfed Utara. The fog began consuming MEIA away from her sight, but the girl's voice remained steady.

"You failed to save me, didn't you?" asked the girl in an innocent manner. "It's all your fault, wasn't it? Now, what's an ample punishment?"

Stop. Stop. Stop iiiiiit!

Utara called for her knives, but her body was completely petrified in space. The knives never came, and all her vision saw was the creeping hue and the lowly approaching face of her former client.

Like a murderous doll, MEIA's face inched closer and closer.

As the temperature around her dropped, all she was left with were her internal screams.